NFLP LOOKS TO FIND WHAT DRIVES THAT RABID FAN

NFLP VP/Marketing Howard Handler is the focus of Terry
Lefton's column in BRANDWEEK. Handler is overseeing a series of
research projects, conducted by Morgan Horan, ESPN/Chilton and
Ross Cooper & Lund, to find out why NFL fans love the game.
Handler: "We want to create a marketing blueprint that should
really become our mantra." Handler hopes to create a marketing
plan that will cut across licensing, sponsorship and events, with
any eye toward segmenting different ethnic, gender and age groups
and "delve into database marketing with some of the country's
largest direct marketers." Handler also plans to bring one or
two full-time market researchers in-house. Noting that Handler
comes from MTV, as did NFLP President Sara Levinson, Lefton
concludes: "The most severe test of the new Levinson-Handler axis
... will be to see if they treat the game with the same kind of
reverence, while adding a requisite dose of fresh marketing
insight" (BRANDWEEK, 4/24 issue).